是现在分词词-ing形式；一个名词是可数名词还是不可数名词，等等)
——词意(最通用的意思放在前面)
——语言的正式程度
——用来表明词意并从实践中汲取的例句
——互相参照条目
——使用方法
——复合词
当然，要想充分利用词典，你必须明白它能做些什么。标准的词典中有很多有趣的英语变体，比如The Longman Language Activator就是这样的词典，它可以帮助你选择有助于表达自己的思想的正确的词或短语。
189. What will help me better to improve my English: studying my old textbook, or reading a newspaper?
您能告诉我学习我的旧教材与读报纸相比，哪一种方式更有助于提高我的英语水平吗?
Even though you haven’t told me which textbook you are referring to, I would say that reading a newspaper is the very best thing you can do to improve your English. Don’t set yourself too much reading so you become discouraged. Read a little from a newspaper every day. It will put you in touch with a whole range of subjects in good modern English. Reading will consolidate and extend your knowledge of structure and vocabulary. It will also be a source of pleasure and information. It is unlikely that any textbook can match a newspaper for sheer range. However, you will probably need some kind of reference book (a grammar and a dictionary) to answer questions that may occur to you. And don’t throw your old textbook away! You may still want to remind yourself of things you may have half forgotten and your textbook will help you to do this.
尽管你没有告诉我你指的是哪种教材，我也要说阅读报纸是提高你英语水平的最佳方式。不要强迫自己读太多的东西，要不然，你会对学习英语失去兴趣的。每一天读一点儿报纸上的文章，这会使你接触到用纯正的现代英语所写的题材广泛的文章。阅读英语报纸无疑会巩固和扩大你的知识结构和词汇。它也是你获得快乐和信息的源泉。因此，就覆盖面而言，任何教材都是难以与报纸相比的。但你还是得备一些参考书(一本语法书和词典)以帮助解答你遇到的问题。你的教科书也别扔掉，因为你还需要教材来帮助提示你所遗忘的东西，你的教材可以助一臂之力。
190. I have been learning English constantly for more than 40 years, but I am still at intermediate level, or even worse. How can I make further progress?
Learning a language means learning a skill, not acquiring knowledge. You test your command of a foreign language by your ability to perform in it, not by how much you know about it. Performance refers to your ability to understand, speak, read and write. Knowledge refers mainly to grammar rules and vocabulary.
When we are trying to master a skill, sooner or later we arrive at our ‘ceiling’: that is， the best we can do. For example, I enjoy playing table tennis. But even if I were to spend the rest of my life practising, I would never reach the level of a Chinese world class player. I reached my ceiling many years ago and I have never improved since then. Of course, I dont know your individual circumstances, but it is quite possible that you have reached your ceiling in English. If so, you just have to accept this and be grateful it is as high as intermediate level and not still at beginners’ level.
191.How can I think, speak and write as an Englishman does? How can I get rid of the influence of my mother tongue when I speak English?
Don’t be offended by my answer. You can’t. You will always think as a Chinese and speak Chinglish. When you learn your mother tongue, you also acquire the ‘mental set’ that goes with it. And if I, as a native speaker of English, were to learn Chinese, I would never think, speak and write as a Chinese does. I would always speak Engchin (and probably very badly!). This means that though learners can understand different varieties of English, they will (unless they are quite exceptionally gifted and have exceptional opportunities at a young age) always speak the version of English that reflects their own culture. So, for example, French learners speak Frenglish, Spanish learners speak Spanglish, German learners speak Gerlish, and so on. When we learn our mother tongues, we learn the muscular movements associated with speaking our own language. That’s why native speakers of Chinese, for example, have particular difficulty with /l/ and /r/ sounds in English; native speakers of French have difficulty with //, so they say ‘ze’ for ‘the’; native speakers of German have difficulty with /w/, so they say ‘ve’ for‘we’; native speakers of Greek have difficulty with/ｄ/， so they say ‘dzam’ for ‘jam’, and so on. It is a considerable achievement to learn English to a reasonable standard, so be proud of your Chinglish and show off your skills! I would certainly be proud of my Engchin, if I had any!
192. I have been a mother for 5 months and been learning English for 12 years. Now I am eager to teach my baby English in his language learning period. Would you like to favour me with some suggestions?
我做母亲已有5个月了，学习英语也有12年了。现在我渴望在宝宝学语言的阶段教他学英语，您能否给我提些建议呢?
The language we speak is called our mother tongue or our native language: it is the language we learn initially and directly from our mothers. Mothers can only express their love and affection for their offspring by speaking to them in their own language. It is extremely important to make sure that your baby learns Chinese from you. Your baby will be extremely surprised and confused if you start making sounds which he/she doesn’t understand and you will find it very unnatural to be speaking to your baby in English. I suggest that you stick to Chinese for the first three years and then begin to teach your child English as if it were a game. The game should be for a short period only in a regularly recurring context, such as getting up in the morning, or sharing a meal. Alternatively, if you want your baby to learn English right from the start, you have to find someone else who will speak to the baby in English. In this way, the baby will come to associate Chinese with you and English with another speaker and will be bilingual right from the start. However, it is usual with children from a truly bilingual background that they will understand both languages without difficulty, but until they are 6 or 7, they will only respond in their mother tongue. This is normal and vital for the development of their personality. Don’t spoil your relationship with your baby! Don’t interfere with nature!
我们自己所说的语言叫做我们的母语：它是我们最先开始学习的语言，我们直接从母亲那里学到。 母
